Megaman X: Shadow of Arcadia
by Pherexio
Summary: X and Zero are called in for a mission that isn't their usual line of work. Two new partners help them solve Arcadia City's biggest problem since Repliforce.Megaman X AU. Rated for graphic content in some chapters.
1. Prelude to Horror

**Megaman X: The Shadow of Arcadia**

Chapter One: _Prelude to Horror

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_

There hadn't been any violence for months in the city; the Maverick Hunters had taken down every last renegade within fifty miles, leaving previously uneasy citizens with a feeling of security. The image of reploids as loyal servants of humankind had been warped further by the Repliforce incident. No human was truly willing to trust a reploid anymore; signs all over town left the non-combat models out of work: "Reploids need not apply."

Everyone was working harder now. The influx of new 'bots to Hunter HQ looking for jobs put everyone that didn't have a combat position (and some that did) in a tough spot. For someone to keep his job, he had to continually accept lower wages and longer hours. It was to be expected; after every wave of mavericks, civilian reploids had lost jobs and needed some place to go. With no other reploid organizations, the Hunter HQ was the only place to go. They had always gone there --but never so many. They gave jobs to as many people as they could, but few had many skills. Every officer had at least two secretaries; when one person could do a job, two were sent; the janitorial staff was tripled; every job had too many workers now, so the vast majority of reploids were put on construction detail.

Construction detail was akin to a death sentence. Paranoid human overseers ran reploid workers to the very limits of their capacity --and beyond. There was always construction work, never enough time to do it in, and always, always, someone was falling down --often times for good. It was horrible, and nothing could be done about it –there were too many of them, too little desire for their presence.

With the tension running so high in Arcadia City, it was only a matter of time before it created shadows and demons of its own. One week ago, there was a gruesome murder after the newly started weekly reploid's ball. There was only one victim, but the immensity of the crime was enough to scare even the most stoic of reploids. Hunter HQ released few details about the crime, but some things leaked that were better left secret. The official release was a masterfully written cover up that the human populace bought fully. The reploids weren't so convinced. Rumors of the crime flew like a disease, spreading from each new listener with feline stealth and speed.

Most of the rumors were false, but no one could tell what was fact and what was fiction. The only people who knew the truth about the crime were the three investigators, and the top-level brass. Without any factual information, no one who had heard the grisly rumors could rest easy. Something needed to be done, but there were no solutions forthcoming. The Ball was intended to help quell the growing hatred among the displaced reploids, but now few were likely to attend.

The fifth ball is tonight, and there is a pitiful crowd in attendance. Less than one eighth the original crowd has shown up. Top hunters X and Zero have been forced to come in an undercover effort to find the murderer who would likely be in attendance, but with well over two hundred reploids there, there is still a considerable task before them.

_-Maverick Hunter HQ 2100-_

_-Inside Unit-17 Officer Quarters-_

X stood in front of the mirror with an angry look on his face –he had been trying to get his tie tied for the last half-hour; so far, he hadn't succeeded. Casual clothes were unusual for him, which left formal clothes somewhere between "rocket science" and "nuclear physics." The buzzer on his door went off and he gave up on the tie, leaving it untied in his collar. After checking the screen, X unlocked and slid the door open.

"The mission started an hour ago."

"Hello to you, too, Zero." The two chuckled a bit at X's joking indignation.

"Come on, we have to get going… Need some help?" X looked at Zero a little embarrassedly and nodded an affirmation. Zero tied X's tie without a hitch and they stood in the doorway a moment longer. They were a striking contrast: Zero wore a dark red suit and had his hair bound loosely at the base of his neck. X wore a light-colored blue suit with a white shirt. Zero knocked his head back a little and the two headed out of the barracks.

"Why do they always send us?" Zero was a little taken aback at X's question. "I mean, I know that we're the best HQ has to offer," he spoke without arrogance, "but this is hardly our area of expertise…" one of the 17-unit troopers pulled up to them.

"Hey guys." X and Zero offered a greeting each and continued their conversation in a pre-selected code.

"Anyway, like I was saying, I don't know how to fix a dishwasher (solve a murder), let alone figure out what's actually going wrong with it (find the culprit of a murder)."

"Sometimes you just have to do things for your girl, (follow orders) X. Just go with it, I'm sure you'll figure it out, after all, she wouldn't have asked you if she didn't think you could handle it (command wouldn't have picked us if they didn't think we could pull it off)."

"I guess." There was a brief silence.

"Hey, I'll catch you guys later since you seem to be going to the dance in a bit." The two nodded and watched the reploid walk off, the yellow in his outfit seemed lost in the brightly lit corridor of HQ's main hall.

"Oh, X, I almost forgot something back in my quarters. You go on without me –probably best not to show up at the same time anyway."

"I guess you're right. I'll see you there." Zero nodded and headed off down toward his barracks. X walked deep in thought to the ball.

_-Fifth Reploid's Ball 2104-_

_-Hunter HQ main courtyard-_

X was bewildered at the enormity of the "reduced" crowd. He was also confused at the music playing –he had heard music, he liked music, but this was new to him, and no less than a little strange. More than that, however, they were _dancing_. X couldn't dance to save his life (or his job!), and he expected that just as much might be on the line. He didn't know where to start. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked to see another reploid from his unit. The trooper took him over to a sizeable crowd of people that he introduced. The group spoke for a while and then dissipated after the band started playing a song that was a little more upbeat than the others.

X just sat down, genuinely lost. He watched people dance in pairs for a while, wondering how they managed it. This was alien to him, so he did what he could to bring something familiar to it. He thought about the mission again; he was to determine who the murderer was with the help of three individuals.

"Oh yeah." He thought aloud. There were two more people on the mission. He couldn't remember their names –they were new names anyway, and most everyone was new these days. He seemed to remember them as being unusual names, but beyond that it was a total blank.

"That must be why you were late, you went and fixed that dishwasher without me!" X nearly jumped out of his folding chair. There was a female reploid in the chair next to him, and she was clearly one of the operatives assigned to the mission.

"No, just trying to sort out what might be wrong with it." He looked at her for a moment. She was about X's height and had a tall face with bright, green eyes. Her black hair fell neatly down her back, making a stark contrast with her silver dress and white shoes.

"So, X, tell me. How do I look tonight?" Thinking on his feet wasn't always X's strongest ability, and when he couldn't remember what code the question meant; he realized she was asking in earnest. After another moment looking at her, as if to lend credibility to his delay, he replied simply.

"Gorgeous." She smiled at his response. "I'm sorry, but I don't recall your name, what was it again?"

"It's Carice." She responded instantly with a smile. The two spent a moment taking each other in, memorizing the person they would be working with. Then, as if an afterthought, "Do you dance?" She spoke with a happy tone in a melodic voice.

"Some people have two left feet; I think I don't have feet at all." X was loath to answer the question, since Carice seemed a little crestfallen at his response. A spending a moment frowning, she stood up and held out her hand. "What?" X was a little confused.

"Get up; it's time for the crash course." X stood, and the two headed a little way into the crowd of dancers. The band stopped for a moment as X and Carice did. She took to moment to quickly explain that the style of dance was "ballroom" and that X was the "lead" and that she was going to help him learn. As the band started a rather slow song, Carice grabbed X's hands and engaged in a position that was a little more intimate than X was comfortable with. He let it go, however, as she continued to explain what the dance was and how to do it. After a few moments, X had the basic step going and Carice seemed as excited as she had been at the start of their meeting. They picked up their original conversation during the dance.

"Any clue who broke the dishwasher (committed the murder)?" Carice started things off.

"Not a one."

"I've a few in mind."

"You'll have to tell me."

"I will." The song ended and X was a bit relieved. He was pretty sure he was doing something wrong, but couldn't figure out what. They headed back to where they were sitting down before the dance lesson. The two spotted Zero and another reploid around the same place and walked over.

"Hey, Zero!" Zero looked up after pushing the brim of his red hat a little higher.

"Hey, X." He nodded to the seat next to him. X and Carice made a circle with Zero and the woman next to him. "X, this is Angie; Angie, X. Angie says she's going to help you fix that dishwasher." X nodded in a friendly way to signify he caught on.

"Hi there, Angie. This is Carice; Zero, Angie, Carice. She's helping as well."

"That's great! Carice and I have already met." Angie had a bit of a low voice and spoke soberly. She wore a black dress and was only a little shorter than Zero. Her skin was pale, and her hair short when compared to Carice's flowing locks. The group spoke in code for the remainder of the ball. X had to dance a few times, but neither girl could convince Zero to get out of his chair. His excuse was always "It's not my style."

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and the group compounded a list of suspects before they went their separate ways. They all went to their respective quarters and went to sleep around 0200. X got a disturbing phone call at 0dark30. It was one he was hoping wouldn't come, and one he was sure would. It was time to get up, time to go to work, time to start solving this problem…

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A/N 

Well, that's the newest fanfic I've got. I think I should take this opportunity to warn you, potential readers, this story is going to get _graphic_, so consider yourselves forewarned.

Anyway, I'll make an effort to respond to any reviews I get and I'll put important notes in the A/N's at the end of every chapter. I hope you'll enjoy Megaman X: Shadow of Arcadia, even if the horror/mystery genre isn't your usual read.

Until next time, keep those feet movin'!


	2. Mortem in C Minor, First Movement

Chapter two contains explicit descriptions of violence and gore (and much nastiness; you have been warned).

**Megaman X: The Shadow of Arcadia**  
Chapter Two: _Mortem in C Minor, First Movement

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_

Three guards, bleary eyed and sweating, stood watch over the taped off hallway X was going toward. As he approached, the three stood more at attention, and the center nodded his head, signifying X could pass. He quickly ducked under the yellow tape that read, "Keep back; authorized personnel only," repeated over and over. The hallway got darker. He passed three more checkpoints on his way to the crime scene.

When he arrived, he could instantly tell that something terrible had happened in the large, open room. There was a curtained off area beneath part of the second level catwalk at the opposite end of the room. Three voices were coming from behind that curtain, filling X with even more trepidation. The curtain seemed daunting, dooming; it loomed silent, stark, and even monolithic in its loneliness among the ample moonlight from the windowed roof. He was frozen for a moment, listening to the serious tones behind the immobile barrier against the terror behind the curtain.

As he stared forward, X began to feel strange. His head started to swim and his hands went numb. A chill went through him and he felt weak. The curtain seemed to stretch and warp into something grotesque. Through the terrible sensation of fear, X thought he could hear a noise, as of something laughing in a deep, repeating strain.

Suddenly, the curtain moved near the bottom, snapping X back to reality –everything was just as it was when he entered the room. A gloved hand held the fabric back while two women walked out into the room. X recognized them as Carice and Angie, but they looked stern and businesslike now, completely unlike what they had been earlier, and dressed in much less formal clothes. The owner of the gloved hand exited behind them. Zero was still wearing the suit he had on at the ball, although he no longer wore the tie or jacket. X could tell none of them had slept.

Carice motioned for X to join them at a table set up in the center of the room with a dim lamp. The four took chairs and spent a silent moment before moving full-steam into the work before them.

"Alright. What we have is a repeat of the last incident. This time the victim was obviously targeted because he participated in the investigation…" Angie's tone was objective and cool. "The numerous wounds were likely inflicted by the same weapon in quick succession. It's the work of a trained killer; unfortunately for us, we have those in abundance on the list. All but two of our suspects are trained in the use of weapons that could inflict such… grievous wounds." She tossed a file folder at X. It was marked "Classified: Eyes Only."

X started to look over the documents inside the file as Carice picked up the dialogue.

"The attack is consistent with the previous one, which means –thankfully –there is only one killer. That does not, however, rule out conspiracy. The evidence seems to suggest that the killer has connections in high places or… is in a high place himself." X looked up from the small stack of papers that said a whole lot about nothing –it was almost as if the brass didn't want anyone to know about the first murder, even the new team of investigators. He tossed the papers back on to the desk.

"Well, let's concentrate on catching the one who has killed these people first; then we can worry about his ring of friends." Angie nodded at X's initiative. They wasted no further time in getting to the core of the matter.

"The weapon must have been large, which narrows our scope a good deal. Only two of our suspects have access to and training with weapons of that size and type." Carice tossed two pages with a paper clipped photo each as Angie continued talking. "Vance Couran and Sam Hark top our list. Couran is a maverick hunter from the sixth unit, specializing in crowd suppression techniques."

X stared down at the imposing mug shot of Vance Couran and could instantly see why he was in unit six –he was large, very large. His shoulders were at least as wide as X was tall and the rest of him seemed to form around those. The hilt end of a gigantic sword stuck up behind his shoulder in the picture, lending weight to the "crowd suppression" part of his occupation. X was a little surprised as he flipped the page to look at the other photo.

"Hark is a former Repliforce Second Colonel trained, almost exclusively, in hand-to-hand combat." A pair of eyes as cold as steel looked back at X from the second photograph. Short hair and a slender build screamed of seduction in the form of a heartless woman with looks to kill. "She reportedly utilizes a large axe as a backup weapon."

"We've already established possible motives and gone over how the murder would have played out in either scenario, but we still have a lot of work to do." X cast his eyes over to Zero, who was busy explaining what was done and what wasn't. Zero went on for a while, but X didn't catch most of it; that noise he had thought he heard was back again, just faintly, at the edge of his mind –it kept him from concentrating, and it was almost –

"X?" The noise shrank away again, and X looked over at Angie, who seemed a little concerned. "You feeling okay? You were spacing out over there."

"Uh.. Sorry." He made a quick excuse and asked that they continue.

"Alright, let's see… right. Okay, so in a nutshell, if it was Couran that did this, things would have been something to this effect…"

_It was just a few hours after the ball ended, Couran trailed his prey at a safe distance most of the way. The short little reploid in the bright colored jacket must've known he was being followed: he kept to the path watched by cameras, didn't take any shortcuts back to his barracks, kept an even pace. He was getting paranoid, and no less than a little edgy. Unfortunately for him, Couran had planned for this, and he was walking steadily to his own death._

_Two corners more, and things were set. The short, brightly clothed reploid was starting to walk faster; maybe he knew there weren't any cameras in that courtyard, maybe he didn't. It wouldn't matter anyway, everything was going right. Now!_

_Couran lunged forward, grabbed the shorter reploid with a single, powerful hand and swung down with the other. He finished his job, left his "note" and headed off, one nuisance less to worry about, and the terror reinforced from before. Things would be glorious…_

Carice finished in an imposing tone. Couran could have done it, he may have done it, and the possible motives list seemed to say he probably did. The postulations weren't over yet, however. X glance down at the information on Hark –it seemed to say up to him, "No! It was this woman! Her!" and Angie was the one who explained what the papers tried to say…

_Simply perfect. Dodging here, ducking there, avoiding this place. Her quarry walked quickly on his way back to his barracks. It was a pity she'd have to kill such a cutie, but hey, he's a knot in an otherwise perfect strand. Bright suit jacket, and quite a dancer too –all too soon, just as dead as the style of his clothes. He was getting very, very sloppy; his last walking companion had left him twenty minutes ago, and he was taking the long way back, just to be sure the cameras saw him go the entire way –like being caught on camera would stop her anyway._

_It was time now; he was in the courtyard that she'd picked out for him to die in. No cameras, no people, and very, very little light. She tossed an empty soda can into a nearby trashcan and ducked around behind the short little reploid man with amazing speed. He wheeled around in time to see a wicked pleasure creep onto her face before she attacked him. He was dead in less time than it took to blink. "Now to scare them, just a little more…" She left that awful calling card like she planned and left without a trace…_

X couldn't tell what really tugged at him more sickeningly: the fact that there was a horrible murder, or the way that these two new girls explained how it was done. Zero didn't seem phased, but nothing much froze his blood anyway. They all sat in silent thought for a moment, drawing lines between what few metaphorical dots they could, trying to come up with more concrete motives and cases. This would be radically different from anything X had ever done before; the magnitude of it wall was just starting to set in, and it was discomforting; he could deal with madmen like Sigma and Vile. He could handle the stress of fighting on the front lines of a war. He could handle the fate of the world, balancing precariously in his hand, but for some reason –for some unfathomable reason, he felt it was going to be a real test of his power to survive this with a scrap of sanity if it dragged on too long. All he could do was hope that it all ended with either Couran or Hark.

"I think that's about all we can do for now; we're all tired, and we've got a whole lot of work to do. We'll meet at twelve-hundred in the HQ general cafeteria. You guys get some sleep and some food." X was glad that the meeting was over, however short it had been. He rose to leave as the others did. Angie stopped him before they left the courtyard completely and waved Carice and Zero on ahead. She spent a few seconds looking X's face over, cool eyes darting every here and there at the slightest muscle twitch.

"Are you sure you're up to this X? You seemed pretty out of it." X took a second to arrange his thoughts.

"I'm just a little tired, that's all. I'm sure I'll be able to help more once I've woken up." Angie seemed to accept that.

"Well, at least take a look at the scene; they want to clean this all up in an hour."

"I will, Angie."

"Alright X. You take care, stay safe." She nodded X good-bye and turned down the hall at a trot to catch up with Carice –Zero was already well out of sight.

As the "clap, clap, clap" noise of their boot-clad feet grew fainter and fainter and finally grew too quiet to hear at all, X felt more and more alone. Once again, it was just he in front of that terrible, pristine curtain. X could see the first tiny trickle of daylight on the far horizon out the window that said day was still too far off to wait for. He looked back at the immaculate whiteness of the hanging cloth, and he was lost.

For the first time since Sigma's first uprising, X had no idea what he was going to do. It was just a simple piece of fabric, suspended in a room, but it almost seemed like moving it would open a doorway to a place X didn't want to be –never wanted to see. Once again, the terrible laughing noise invaded X's mind –still far off, still too faint to really focus on, but it made X feel vulnerable. His feet moved on their own, and he found himself in front of the terrible milk-white enemy. A foul odor was struggling to come under to the other side, but the curtain kept it at bay.

X shivered. It was just a little warmer than room temperature, and he shivered. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard –it was like picking up the blaster for the first time: scary, powerful, cool, but seemed to take away a part of himself when he did it. Now he had gone into that territory of no return. He could start now. He opened his eyes once more and stood up straight; the noise receded from his mind. He pulled the curtain back enough to step inside.

The stink of copper and that unique stench of hydraulic fluid invaded his nose. Everything inside had been covered too; the body was covered by a large cloth marked "A1" and something on the wall with one marked "A2;" a few numbered "B" markers were stuck about a few different spots of blood –why those few, X couldn't tell –blood was everywhere. He steeled himself, and moved over to the wall curtain. He didn't know why he was starting there, but he did. He pulled the curtain back a ways, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. He pulled it from the wall, and was taken aback at what he saw:

In big, shaky letters a message ran on the section of wall, it would have been silly –if it wasn't written in blood. "I have seven notes to play, one got a sharp; the others are yet to be written." He took a moment to steady himself again. _Psycho_. The word flew into his brain, and he just accepted it as the explanation. He wasn't done yet, however. The body was left to see. He replaced the cover on the wall and looked down at the bold "A1" next to him. With a deep breath, he grabbed the corner of the cloth; with another, he flung it away and saw a sight he'd never forget.

There were three pieces, the top-left quarter, the top-right, and then the midsection down. The body was shredded –jagged edges marked where the horrible weapon had sliced through metal and pseudo-flesh. Blood covered everything. The shoes were a pair of old worn-out dress shoes that were now doused in coagulated blood. The dress slacks the reploid had on were wrinkled in a hundred places and full of the sick smell of reploid death. X's eyes continued upward, and he felt sharply ill when he saw the disgusting mess the innards had fallen into when they fell out of the body. It was horrible, and he could hardly stand to continue upward.

Then he saw it: the face. It was twisted in a terrible agony, warped in a death-hardened scream of terror that never escaped the lungs. That wasn't all to be experienced. X _knew_ this reploid –it was one of his close friends. Double, the light-hearted, yellow-wearing good-guy who was in his division. It was more than X could take all at once. He left things as they were and walked dazedly out of the curtained off area. The air in the courtyard itself was free of the stink of death, but it didn't help at all.

"Hey. You look like you could use a hand getting back home." X looked over at the source of the voice. His vision began to blur and he could see the outline of who he thought was Zero. He made a groggy sort of nod and thought he heard Zero say something else, but he couldn't be sure. He fell forward to the ground, passed out, and that peculiar noise seemed to come back for an instant, just before everything turned black.

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**A/N**  
The first murder scene is revealed, and the plot lurches forward ever so slowly. I don't think updates will be too often, but I'll do my best to keep at least a monthly schedule (I'll probably make more updates if school isn't too harsh). As always, make comments and tell me how you feel about this story. 


	3. Mortem in C Minor, Second Movement

**Please note the a/n at chapter suffix**

Megaman X: Shadow of Arcadia  
Chapter Three: _Mortem in C Minor, Second Movement

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_

It was midmorning, about 1000 hours. The cramped room was flooded with a muted sunlight from the solitary window with curtains drawn. Outside, it was quiet; there were no noises of someone going through a bag or reploids shooting the breeze in the barracks commons. There were no exercises going on in the outdoor area, and the bulky work computer in the room hadn't been turned on yet. The only sources of noise in the room were the steady, yet out-of-synch breaths of the two sleeping reploids. One of them lay serenely in the bunk on one wall, and the other slept sitting upright in a large chair borrowed from the common area.

Then, slowly, gradually, one awoke. His breathing quickened and he became vaguely aware of the pillow beneath his head. A feeling of profound peace and security overtook him for the few short moments he lay awake before turning his mind to its proverbial "on" position. A soft groan escaped him as he remembered the events from the early morning. He heard a sharp breath from the opposite side of the room followed by a sleep-laden "Hey." He looked tiredly over at the noise and saw a groggy Zero sitting in an armchair –he was still dressed in the same clothes as he was last night.

"Hey," came X's somewhat shaky reply.

"You feeling alright?" Zero was sitting forward now, obviously still tired, but concerned.

"I guess so; I think it was probably just a little much all at once." Zero nodded assent and sat back again.

"You scared me when you fell forward like that. You sure you're going to be able to do this?" X responded without a moment's delay.

"Yeah; anyone who'd do that needs to be caught, and fast –who better to do it than us?" Zero nodded at X's enthusiasm.

"That's good, because I've got our precise orders on my desk. Why don't you get ready for today and meet me down at my dormitory; we'll meet Carice and Angie after that." Zero stood up and stretched. He waved good-bye to X and headed out the door. X lay in bed a few more minutes, not wanting to let go of the peaceful feeling too quickly –Zero needed a little extra time anyway. A few more winks couldn't hurt…

_Unit 0 Barracks, 1100 hours_

X knocked on the door marked "Commander Zero" and waited. He heard a shuffling noise from inside and the "slide-click!" of a deadbolt being shot back. Zero stood in the doorway, changed and recently showered.

"Come on in." X followed Zero back into the room and was instantly jealous of his friend. He had once heard that Zero had a large living area, but he hadn't put much weight to the rumor. Zero's dormitory had to be at least twice the size of X's, and actually had furniture –something X didn't think _anyone_ had, let alone soldiers. He continued to look about with envious eyes as Zero lead him to his desk.

"It's because there's fewer of us." X looked at Zero, slightly puzzled. "The room. It's nicer because there's less of us; Unit Zero gets the same funding and space that the 18th gets, there's just less of us. Anyway, that's really unimportant at the moment. Here," he paused long enough to hand X another envelope. "You've got a copy too."

_Orders to Maverick Hunter Elites Col. X, 18th, and Col. Zero, 0_

_Issued May XX, 21XX from MMHQ Top-Command__  
Classification Priority: Triple Gamma, top-level classification__  
Hunters Col. X and Col. Zero are to accompany and ensure the well being of investigators 2nd Lieutenant Carice Lauer, 32nd Civilian, and 2nd Lieutenant Angelina Keror, 32nd Civilian.  
__Mission critical that Lauer and Keror survive any confrontations with hostile forces.  
__Mission critical that mission remains fully covert. All persons who know about this mission not listed in this document are to be considered hostile and extremely dangerous to all parties involved.  
__All measures approved, lethal force is authorized.  
__Failure will result in immediate exile or termination.  
Verified: General Signas, MMHQ Top-Command_

X finished reading the orders and looked up somewhat worriedly at Zero. They spared a moment in silence, understanding entirely what the other wanted to say. X just nodded and looked away again. "_Immediate exile or termination_" it was not a nice prospect.

"It doesn't get any clearer than that. It's just conjecture, but I would imagine that this is more than just a couple of murders. I think we're in for a long haul that won't just be resolved with this second murder. We have two choices here: either we a skip out of the city and live as exiled Mavericks, or we b stick it out and make sure no harm comes to those two girls –perceptive as they are, I don't think they suspect a major conspiracy, not yet an any rate." X looked incredulously up at Zero again. How could he even say that? It was just… just… crazy… but true. They had no options, really. In about one half-hour, they would have to cement their fates to keep the conspiracy covered up –or become one of the very reploids they hunted, at least in the eyes of the city.

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**A/N**

Well as you can plainly see, this chapter is incomplete and has been nothing like the last two; I attribute this entirely to a radical change in myself. This change has left me, in my opinion, incapable of composing something dark enough to satisfy this story on a regular basis. I apologise for beginning something so grandiose only to let it falter as it has, but such things are --happily --out of my control. With that said, I don't expect I'll finish Shadow of Arcadia; alas, it will likely stay as it is now indefinitely.

-Pherexio


End file.
